Her face after I said no to gummy worms 😂. ❤️ (this outfit is now my favorite thing in her closet--from @bloomhandmadeco--the thickest, softest crinkle gauze. These are the iris pants and the quince blouse.)

The things I love to give most to people this month--my time, my emotion, my creative energy and nurturing heart--were damn near snuffed out this morning, so I took an entire day to pour all of those back to myself today. I took a long bath, went out to lunch all by myself, ordered a fancy immunity defense shot at the juice bar, bought a new lipstick, finally got my hair trimmed & colored, and arranged for my dad to pick the kids up from school. A necessary adjustment--I feel so much better tonight, refueled for output and reinspired to enjoy these last weeks of my favorite month. ❤️️

One of my favorite things we did in 2017: have my grandma come stay with us for a week. ❤️ And one of the best gifts we've ever given? A @StoryWorth subscription for her to preserve the stories of her past and for us to learn more about the wise, witty, beautiful woman she is. If you're looking for a unique meaningful gift for parents or grandparents this year, I'm on the blog today talking about one of our favorites, @storyworth. | AD

My sister girls. ❤️ We hit the tree tent today to buy a wee real tree, and I swear there are mind-altering chemicals in the tree sap because it made me 50 shades of happy, and all three of my kids are in different places of the house right now playing quietly or doing homework, and one of them is, no joke, humming Jingle Bells, and it's not even off-key. All is well, It smells like pine.

Headed to a cookie competition party tonight, and there's been a lot of smack talk on text threads with who will be taking trophies. There're points for festive attire, taste, and how they're packaged, so I took packaging to the moon with Christmas Sweaters, complete with attached price tags and wrapped in sweater boxes from Florida's premiere Christmas sweater shop, Rudolph Lauren. Let's do this. (Thank you @amysbarrios for assisting 😘)

Our 7th Annual North Pole Party last night: kids, babies, jammies, twinkle lights, cookies & milk, a crackling fire on a cold night, music, cocoa, and my father--wearing a Christmas sweater--reading 'Twas the Night Before Christmas in a Cajun accent. Most definitely saved in my Core Memories...and this one, the epitome of gratitude and joy.

Ten years ago tomorrow, I started a blog and wrote these embarrassingly "riveting" words as my first post: "It’s a blank canvas I can’t wait to paint on! It’s a new Hello Kitty diary complete with colored gel pens that I can’t wait to write in! It’s an empty scrapbook that is begging to be filled. It’s a thousand dollar shopping spree to Michaels! So, here it is…a blank page. My hands are shaking! I can’t wait to fill it… with the little things that make me happy.” Perhaps that sums up what admittedly may be on my tombstone someday: “She wrote with exclamation points.” I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but there you have it, how it all began–with exclamation points and reference to the craft aisles of Michael’s. Little did I know my proclaimed affection for Hello Kitty and gel pens would lead to a blog post where I would expose the bones of my soul and admit I was shaken from something that changed the course from the perfect dreams of motherhood I had spent so much time spinning in my head to the heart of real life--you can't plan it all, sister; but you can paint the feck out of life with the brush you've been given. Of course, when I wrote it, I thought maybe twelve people would read it. But more showed up, and if there’s anything I learned from sharing that post that will forever keep this blog close to my heart, it’s that the people behind these screens? They are real, and they are wonderful, and we need each other’s stories. More on what I've learned from keeping a blog on--well, the blog. And a little love letter to my readers. I love you. I really do. xo Cheers to 10 years which the experts say is supposed to be celebrated with gifts of tin or aluminum. So here's a pop can for you--I wrapped it with a bow. 🎀

Hot Cocoa Bar is ready for the weekend! ❤️ The kids are so excited for their party, and it makes me feel like a kid again...that innocent wonder and anticipation that could fuel the world if we could just bottle it up.

Holiday cheat: skip the baking and buy these (dangerously uh-MAZing) gingersnaps to decorate. Just as much as they excite us, the holidays and festive to-do lists can also overwhelm us and make us feel less than our high-on-eggnog Martha Stewart neighbor. Sharing our holiday cheats and "permission tos" on the blog today with @retailmenot#ad#dealbrag

Our North Pole Party grows a little more each year with more kids because my kids' worlds swell with new friendships. It means more cookies to bake, but the payoff is grand...thankful for all the little loves that make up our tribe. ❤️

Nella was lying in my arms–awake, but slumped in all comfy–during the Pas de Deux last night, my favorite part of the entire Nutcracker when I feel like Tchaikovsky is strumming the damn strings of my soul. And watching the ballet with that music, my girl’s cheek pressed against my chest and growing legs dangling further past my knees this year–it was this intense fusion of Motherhood and Art, two of my greatest loves–loves that are both so big, my receptors can barely handle such intense recognition of them together like that. The result feels like ectasy. But then again, I feel things too much. ❤️️ More from our annual holiday tradition, on the blog.

I know a few phrases in Spanish, learned how to say "butt" in Afrikaans when I was twelve and pretend I'm fluent in French (I know, like, three words), so I'm nowhere near bilingual. But I do speak fluent photo love, and since photos speak of memories and love, and love is our universal language, then there. You see it? I speak all languages. Where was I going with this? Oh yeah...the holidays. Photos & Holidays--two of my favorite things. Before you dash off to buy another holiday garland, stock up on gift tags or search for the perfect grandparent gift, check out 4 ways to use something you already have--PHOTOS--in your decorating, gifting and wrapping this year...on the blog. ❤️ @artifactuprising